Dystopia
by Latifah27
Summary: 20,000 years in the future, Hyrule has a new hero, a young woman who is a descendant of Link. Rated R because future chapters will have some blood, and it has some suggestive dialogue and implied slash.
1. The Escape

Untitled Normal Page

Author's note: this story contains stuff about smoking and drinking, and has some suggestive dialogue. If you're offended, don't read.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twenty Millenia in the future, Hyrule is a dismal place. The men were eliminated by war and plague, and the women survived by cloning themselves. The monarchy has been replaced by a ruling Council that controls almost every aspect of life, and rupees have given way to credits. Beneath the sterile cities lies the mine shaft, which the Council can't do anything about except debit credits from the members. They may take more drastic measures if this problem isn't eliminated soon.\par Meanwhile, Raya M'harra, a decendant of Link, is coming of age and will learn about the secrets of her past and the prophicies concerning her bloodline, and the horrible truth about the Council.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Raya M'harra, please report to the cloning facility at Hyrule sector Beta, district 525 as soon as possible!**

Raya jerked awake. Late again. The Council did not approve of tardiness. It was the duty of all women to donate genetic material for reproduction so that their race could continue.

She wished she could take off her wrist comm., but that was illegal. Even after all those millenia, the council still insisted on knowing where everybody was. Only a few people dared to take off their comms. Those people would then join the Mine-shaft movement and become virtual pariahs above-ground.

Raya hurried into the laser shower. It scanned her, burned off the bacteria and dead skin that accumulated on Raya's body overnight, and rinsed it off with hot water. She had heard stories about people washing themselves with a harsh chemical known as soap. This 'soap' often washed away not only bacteria, but also the body's natural moisture. The laser shower made it obsolete.

After a quick shower, Raya got dressed and ran to the kitchen.

"Late again?" her mother, Deela, asked, with a half-smile on her face.

Raya nodded.

"Well, you're gonna have to hurry now. I got a surprise for you when you get back."

Raya drank some vitamin enriched juice and hurried out. She knew that if she kept that up she would be in trouble with the Board of Health. She was not getting her daily requirement of calories and nutriants and would not be able to function at peak efficiency. She was also falling asleep on the job, something that was not tollerated by the Ruling Council.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Deela shook her head. So young. But she had to know. The fate of Hyrule was resting on the M'harra line. She had told Raya and her other daughters about Link's exploits, which was illegal. The Council was trying its hardest to erradicate any knowledge of Link. Any knowledge of the old days and the freedom the people used to enjoy. But she would not let that happen... It was prophesied... The one conceived without father and birthed without mother, born in a womb of glass...

Deela absent-mindedly flipped on the holovid and watched the news. Another factory had _supposedly _been raided by the Mine-shaft. She had to tell Raya... She just had to...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At the cloning facility, Raya sat in the waiting room in deep thought. Cloning became a necessity after the men were killed by war and disease. Every woman over eighteen had to donate her genes at least once in her life or face monthy fines, which could eat up her credit allowance.

She fingered her necklace with the shiny triangle that seemed to be attatched to it without glue or any other form of adhesive. Her mother had told her to hide it and to never give it away for anything . It was supposed to be an important M'harra treasure, something with magical powers. Maybe it was just another one of her crazy mother's stories, but then again, maybe not...

"First time?"

Startled, Raya stuffed the necklace back into her shirt and turned to see a woman in her mid-thirties. She had a dark complexion and odd-eyes, one blue, and one green, obviously contacs. Her hair was artificially straightened and dyed an unnaturally bright blonde. She was from the mine shaft, no doubt.

"I remember my first time," she continued, laughing, "I was a little nervous too. Almost bit off my nails which I grew just for the occasion."

She showed Raya her nails, which were half the size of her fingers. Her dress was low-cut, skin-tight, and made of plastic, which was an illegal pollutant. She most likely got it from the mine shaft. Everything she wore, sprayed, or rubbed on was illegal.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself," she said, "The name's Marin H'lia. What's yours?"

"Raya." she said.

"Not too talkative, eh? Worried about your gene rating?"

Raya nodded 'yes'. The gene rating was determined by how many viable cells were in an individual's blood. Anyone with a rating lower than 25% would have to have her genes merged with those from another woman. But that wasn't the reason for her alloofness.

Raya didn't talk too much, and when she did, she would often say something stupid. She didn't have many friends, and she didn't get along with other people very well.

And that woman was unsettling. Raya had never been in such close quarters with a criminal, at least not one she hadn't lived with all her life.

"Don't worry. I don't bite."

Raya looked at her. _Great_, she thought, _a perv!_

"You know what I mean."

She rolled her eyes. The woman was surprisingly perceptive. How was she gonna get out of this one?

"Sorry," Raya said, "It's just the-"

"-People on the holo-news. I know all about it." Marin said, "They love harrassing us. Weapons are illegal and obsolete so they debit our credits and lie about us on the holovids. Why can't they just leave us alone? Good thing they don't know 'bout my stash of rupees."

Raya didn't answer. The mine-shaft was tempting, but also illegal, and Marin did make her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"So, babygirl, howza 'bout it? You goin' come with me? Or you gonna go on with your sterile, meaningless existance?"

"Raya Ma'harra, you're next." a nurse called from the front desk.

"Sorry, gotta go."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Marin chuckled to herself. The girl would probably have little or no viable cells in her body. Then they would have to mix her genes with someone else's-hopefully her's. After all, she _was_ the good-looking one. She was so cool she could hardly believe it.

She looked in the mirror and applied another coat of an illegal cosmetic, lipstick. That alone would incur a fine, but she bought everything from the mine shaft, so she didn't give a rodent's rump. A couple thousand years ago she would be detained, but years of legislation by the 'peace at all costs' Council had rendered even that inhumane. That was about the only thing she liked about the Council.

All they could do was debit credits, since obviously no one knew about the more drastic forms of punishment. Then again, from time to time several of her friends would 'disappear'... Maybe the innocent facade of the Council was just a cover for something more sinister...

Marin didn't like going above ground that much, but it was the only way she could contact potential followers. The Mine-shaft used to contact people via the NET, which spanned the globe and linked everyone through their computers.

It worked for awhile, but then, the council started monitering the chat-rooms and kicking out anyone suspected of being associated with the Mine-shaft. So, the women decided that they would improvise. These women soon became known as 'trolls,' since they used to post those annoying, and sometimes humerous messages in chat-rooms and on message-boards. Not a very attractive name, but it would do.

Of course, the council was growing lax. Sometimes she would log on the net as a man, amusing some of the others in the chat-rooms.

Marin looked around the waiting room. There were three women about her age, and they were not happy. She decided to head for the arcade, which is where most of the teens hung out after school and work.

As she left, she pulled out a cigarette and lit-up. The people outside stared at her in revulsion. How inconsiderate! She was polluting the air and putting them in danger of lung-cancer. One of those people, an old, wizzened woman, glared at her. The annoyance. Soon she will be taken care of. Permanently. The old woman cackled at the thought. Every last annoyance would be dealt with.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya was relieved. That woman scared her, but yet, also offered her something very tempting. And she was right. Life had lost all meaning. It was the same routine every day. Her mother said it was worse at the beginning of the reign of the council.

There were surveilance cameras everywhere, and a computer would report any illegal activity, even if it was just talk of civil disobedience. There were also re-education centers, and childcare facilities where all the young children lived. They didn't even get to see their parents until they left the facilities. But, over the millenia, the council had grown complacent. Confident that the past freedom's were forgotten, the council had slowly let up on the rules.

Now, children could be raised by their mothers and would only be periodically questioned. Raya had learned to lie, and her mother gave her a treat every time she told the inquisitors what they wanted to here, that her mother was in compliance with the rules, and that they knew nothing they weren't supposed to know.

But her mother was involved in illegal activities, though she didn't elaborate. It had something to do with conceiling illegal pieces of history, and information.

Raya knew that some people had found ways to hide from the central computer, and she knew that there were opperatives working at the surveilance console. Something about telepathy. It may have contributed to the council's laxness.

The examination room smelled like medicine and was littered with equipment. The doctor, a woman with a severe straight-laced demeanor, asked Raya to hold out her hand. She held a suction device to the back of Raya's hand and collected a small blood sample. Then she pushed some buttons on a computer and some numbers, which Raya didn't bother to understand, appeared on the monitor.

The doctor looked at her without smiling.

"You rate 83%, odd for one of your generation."

That was it. The examination was over. The Doctor handed her a slip with the life-donation schedules and penalties for refusing to donate.

It was one of the many quirks of the M'harra line. They never needed to have their genes combined with another line's. Raya had heard once that there were other lines like that, but her mother had warned her to keep off the subject. Why she did that, Raya didn't know.

As Raya left, she noticed that Marin was gone. Somewhat relieved, she headed for her job at the district school. Today, she would learn how to teach seven-year-olds, including her sister, Leetha.

She didn't like teaching that much, but she didn't have any choice. The council assigned people to their jobs depending on their abilities and where they were currently needed. And unfortunately, they needed a teacher for the primaries.

When she got home, her mother took her downstairs and turned on the lights. The room was filled with things from another era.

"They used to belong to one of your first father-"

"Link.", Raya finished, "I remember the stories you told me, about him defeating Ganondorf, and the Wind Fish..." She trailed off and looked at a small, blue ocarina in a jeweled box. Her mother told her of an ocarina like this one that woke the Wind Fish and made an island disappear.

There was another box with a bow and some arrows, and the swords that Link used to defeat the monsters of old Hyrule hung on the wall in their sheaths. Those weapons were illegal, Raya noted. Weapons of any form were forbidden to the public. So were the bombs in the case in the corner. Her mother could go broke if they found her stash...

Her mother then showed her Link's armor. It was a bit tarnished, but still in good condition. Raya tried it on and found that it fit comfortably. Her mother had her take off the armor and take a sword into the next room. There, she showed Raya some of the moves that her mother taught her. It was tradition, she said. It was also the most fun Raya had.

Raya then went back into the room with the M'harra treasures and tried to play a song on the ocarina. She had played whistles before, but this one was rather odd. It was a while before she got the hang of it. Then something caught her eye. In the box was a slab of polished wood with instructions carved on it, instructions for the 'Ballad of the Wind Fish', 'Manbo's Mambo', and the 'Frog's Song of Soul'. Raya had heard that those songs could transport the player to different places and defeat certain enemies.

No, no, it was all legend. But the weapons would be worth a pretty rupee in the underground. And maybe her future child would like to play with the ocarina. But that was all it was. A child's toy.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Deela watched as Raya played on the ancient whistle. Soon, she would have to reveal the secret of that ocarina and it's significance. In time... But now, she would have to prepare Raya for the war that would come very soon. One way, or another, Raya would find out about the prophecy, that a descendant of Link, conceived without father, birthed without mother, born from a womb of glass, would free Hyrule.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The training sessions went on for months. Every day after working at the district school, Raya would go straight home and practice with her mother, learning how to use the different weapons, including one sword that her mother said only the M'harras could use. She also told Raya of a magic cape that could make the wearer invisible.

Deela told Raya that she would someday have to leave the city and go to the underground movement, the Mine Shaft.

"Why? They're a bunch of thieves-"

"You know that's not true. They were a group of people who didn't agree with the Council and were persecuted for their views. They just wanted to restore freedom. To offer us a better life."

"But why would the counsel attack them if they weren't breaking the law?

"The Council wants to control everyone, and I suspect that one of the members is planning to revive Ganon."

That night, she logged on the computer. There was one for every family member so they could converse with friends from around the world.

**Hello**. she typed.

**Hello, Zelda 254. This is Mr. Max**. came the answer. Zelda 254 was Raya's screen-name, the number added because Zelda was a popular alias.

**Hello Mr. Max. How are you?**

**Fine, Zelda 254, wazzup?**

Raya thought for a moment. Mr. Max frequented that particular chat-room. Most of the members had female names, but Mr. Max was obviously a weirdo, possibly a troll.

**I'm almost 19!** she typed.

**Cool!**

**Something is bothering me.**

**?**

**Some troll. Talking about me joining the mine-shaft.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From her underground room, Marin typed: **What? Scared of some troll?**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya looked at the reply.

**No.** she typed,** I just might join the mine-shaft.**

Then, abruptly, Raya was kicked out of the chat-room. She knew she wouldn't be allowed in there again, unless she went under a different alias. Well, Raya was too tired to go back in. She went to bed, and tossed and turned and had a disturbing dream. A voice said:

"**You are the one.**"

"What do you mean?"

"**Conceived without father, birthed without mother, born from a womb of glass.**"

"Of course I was conceived without father! Men are extinct!"

"**Save Hyrule.**"

"Save Hyrule? Hyrule is safe! We have a police force in every district-"

"**Save Hyrule.**"

"What? Is someone attacking? We have a global government! Weapons are obsolete! Leave me alone!"

A man about Raya's age appeared. He was wearing a green jerkin outfit like the one her mother said Link wore. His hair was shoulder-length and brown, like hers. 'Link' was carrying a shield and a sword, and had a feather in his cap(a roc's feather, she noted).

Then he spoke:

"**Could it be that the evil is what is keeping the peace?**"

Raya suddenly felt strange. Something was in her abdominal cavity and causing it to swell. She looked down and saw that her abdomen had grown so big that she couldn't see her feet. She touched it and felt something move.

"What is happening to me?"

Then she knew. Her mother had told her how women used to carry their children inside them. But that was risky and painful, so they slowly fazed out in utero reproduction.

"What did you do to me?" she screamed at 'Link'.

Then, the dream faded. Raya woke up in a cold sweat, and something just came to her. She knew what she had to do. Her mother had told her about the legendary tri-force, wherabouts long forgotten, and about the golden land that turned people into what they were inside.

It was the middle of the night. Her mother and sisters were asleep, so she quietly walked downstairs into the secret room. She took the sword, the shield, and the ocarina, and ran outside. She nervously surveyed the empty city, afraid that she would be captured by a patrol droid(civilians had a curfew, and violation would result in heavy fines).

No droids in sight. She kept running. Then a droid appeared and attempted to scan her. She hid in an alley, and the droid lost her.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice.

"You fast for a white girl."

She turned around. It was Marin H'lia. The dress that she was wearing violated all the laws of modesty. The skin-tight dress went up to her thighs, and was so low-cut that Raya worried that it wouldn't hold together much longer.

"Don't just stand there," Marin whispered, "They'll be back for us. Come on."

She motioned for Raya to follow her. Reluctently, she did. She didn't know if she could trust her, though.

She followed the woman into a hole in the street. The tunnel was dark and slippery, and it smelled horrible.

At the end of the tunnel, Marin knocked on the door three times, kicked twice, and said, "Pizza-delivery!"

The door opened by its self. The mine shaft! Raya looked in awe at the underground city. There were stores everywhere, houses made out of hollowed-out walls, fruits and vegetables growing out of the ground, and... animals. No one grew their own food where she came from, and animals were relegated to zoos. And no one sold food. The government distributed it in the form of synthesizer rations.

"Hey!" Marin called to the people, "Look who I dragged from Hylian Hell!"

The people looked up and waved at Raya. Some of the children who had never been above ground looked at her and played hide-&-seek behind her shield. One of them asked her if she had a mommy up there. She nodded 'Yes'. There were also small humanoids flying around in the mine shaft. Fairies, she noted. She heard stories of fairies that could heal people, but she thought they were legend.

There was one old fairy telling stories to some younger fairies. Raya noticed that there were boys in the group. She laughed to herself. If only the male fairies were a little bigger...

"Yes, I knew Link." the fairy said, "Way back before any of you were born. Heh heh... I tell you one thing. He was cute, 'specially when he was taking a bath."

"What did he look like?" asked one of the girls.

"'Bout like that kid over there."

She pointed to Raya.

"Well," she said, "He wore different clothes."

Raya sat and listened to the fairy, 'Grandma Sprite,' tell stories about Link's exploits. Could they be true? Could this ocarina be more than a child's toy?

Her train of thought was broken when she heard the panicked cries of the children. She looked to see Sprite lying unconscious by the pebble she was sitting on just a moment ago. Raya scanned Sprite. No life signs. Dead as a proverbial door-nail.

"I'm sorry." she said, "Grandma Sprite died."

The children started crying.

"You gotta do something," one of the children pleaded.

"Theres nothing I can do. We all gotta go sometime."

"Please!!!!" the children chorused.

Just then, Raya remembered that the Frog's Song of Soul could revive the dead. She put the ocarina to her lips and thought, "I hope this works."

She played the song. Nothing happened. She turned to leave. Suddenly the children were saying, "Hey everybody! Look! Grandma's coming back! She looks different!"

Raya looked to see Sprite stirring and growing younger. When she stopped growing younger, she looked at her hands.

"Well, well! I don't remember looking this good!"

"She did it!" cried one of the children.

"I just played a tune on this little whistle," said Raya, "I didn't do nothing."

"Nothing my foot!" said Sprite, "You played the Frog's Song of Soul. It was a revival song back when I was in diapers!"

"This is a child's toy."

"That 'child's toy' brought me back to life-"

"But-"

"Thank you! And no but's about it!"

Raya was flattered, but she still didn't believe that she did it. She spent the night at Marin's house, and went to a place called a 'nightclub'.

Her ears were assailed by a loud, rythmic noise. It was so loud, that she couldn't hear herself think.

"It's techno music," Marin explained.

"WHAT??????" Raya yelled. She could barely hear her own voice.

"I SAID, IT'S TECHNO MUSIC!!!!!" Marin yelled.

"WHAT-A-WHAT???????????"

"TECHNO!!!!!!!!" Marin yelled, just as the song stopped.

People stared at her.

"-music," she continued.

Then Raya remembered. Her mother told her that the Council had banned certain kinds of music that caused people to gyrate, or 'dance'. They feared that it would cause the women to engage in 'sex', a forbidden activity that used to make them have children.

Then, another song started playing. It was very pleasing, with a sound that emulated strings, though not very well. Then came the harder bass-sounds, and the drums, mostly noise. However, Raya didn't mind. She liked it, and the feeling it gave her.

Marin lead her to a room and popped a couple of rupees into the slot by the door. The door opened, and a computer-voice said, "enter"

Raya went inside, and the door closed, leaving Marin outside to find her own room.

"Choose your companion," the computer said, "Male, or female?"

Raya thought for a moment.

"Male," she said, since she wondered how they made love the 'old way'.

"Specify age"

"Eighteen"

"Skin-color?

"Caucasian"

"Hair-color?"

"Brown"

"Hair-length?

"Shoulder-length"

"Eye-color?

"Blue"

"Build?"

"What do you mean by 'build?'" Raya asked.

"Body-mass, bone-mass, girth, musculature"

"Ok," Raya said, "I'd like one with medium bone-mass, lean, like he works out, not too much muscle"

"Miscillaneous facial-features? Blemishes? Any missing parts or limbs?"

"Make the nose and ears like mine, and a few random blemishes to make him look natural"

"Specify, clothed or naked"

"Clothed"

"Specify clothing, era, color, accessories, cosmetics"

"Era..." she thought about it, "Old hyrul, about 20,000 years ago, green-jerkin, matching boots and cap, sword and shield. No makeup"

"Size of genetilia?"

"Just normal, not too big"

"Do you want to enable verbal-capabilities?"

"What?"

"Do you want him to talk?"

"Yes, of course I do"

"Do you want a mobile-inducer?"

"What's that?"

"It will allow him to leave this room"

"Yes, that would be nice. Why would I want to stay here?"

"This room can be furnished with all the holographic-equipement you need to maximize your experience with your holo-toy. All you have to do is ask for a list of available equipement. If what you ask for is not on our list, please write to the proprieter and we will do our best to accomadate your needs"

"Ok, I want a mobile-inducer, and I may want to try out some of the 'equipement' later," Raya said.

"Thank you for using the holo-toy," the voice said, "We hope you will have an enjoyable experience at 'The Pink Dodongo'. Please come by again at any time"

Then, a person appeared in front of Raya, and he looked just as she specified.

"Please choose a name for me," was the first thing he said.

"Link," Raya decided.

"Link," the holo-toy repeated, "I like that name"

"I'm surprised the computer didn't tell me to choose a personality for you," Raya laughed.

"I am programed to adapt, to form a personality that will best accomadate you," said 'Link'.

"Well, don't just stand there, let's go out and 'dance'"

'Link' looked at her.

"You don't know how to dance, do you?" he asked.

Raya shook her head.

"Well, you're in luck; I am programed with all the known forms of dance-"

"And sex," Raya finished.

"Of course," Link said, "I am programed to meet the needs of the customer. Your wish is my command"

"Ok, then teach me to dance"

Raya took 'Link's hand and walked toward the doorway. The door opened, and they walked back into the main room.

The music was pounding, and there was a floor in the middle of the room that had all kinds of lights and lasers, making the 'dancers' look like they were flickering in slow motion.

Marin was at the bar, drinking something amber.

"Hey, Raya, try some," she offered, and gave the bar-tender a handful of rupees, "One beer for my friend"

The bar-tender, obviously a hologram, since it was a man, slid a glass of 'beer' over to Raya.

Raya took a taste, and thought it tasted much like the processed wafers she had for breakfast. She swallowed it, and then coughed at the way it burned her throat. She drank some more, interested at the way it burned going down. Then, she ordered another.

After downing her second beer, she headed for the dance-floor, with 'Link' following close behind.

Once on the dance-floor, 'Link' took Raya's hands, and said, "Now, I'll teach you to dance"

The moves were fairly simple, and pretty soon she got the hang of it. The music, the lights, and the other dancers started to blur together. Everything was a haze, and Raya didn't know what she was doing. Her last memory was stripping off her outfit in front of everyone.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Marin and her toy, Red Kokili, watched the spectacle from the bar.

"Amature," Marin chuckled.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Raya woke up, Marin had some good news.

"Raya!" she said, "The fairies heard about what you did for their oldest princess."

"Huh?"

"Princess Sprite."

"Princess? I thought she was the town bard."

"That's just her hobby, since she stepped down long before any of us were born."

"And?"

"She has a gift for you. Go to the fairy kingdom down the block."

The fairy kingdom was evidently built to accomadate elves. Raya didn't even have to duck when she entered the palace. There, in the throne room, was a piece of rolled-up paper with something in it.

The fairy queen was very happy.

"I can't thank you enough for reviving my greatest of great grandmothers. This map will help you find the tri-force, and the key will lead to the tombs of your ancestors. Thank you again, Raya."

Raya didn't know what to say. She accepted the gift.

"You're welcome, your majesty-"

"Please, call me Talia. We abandoned those titles a long time ago."

"Ok, Talia. Thank you."

"Good luck in finding the tri-force."

Raya left the palace, turning to wave at the queen.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Talia waved back. When Raya was gone, she decided to retire to her room. There, she entered her lab through a secret door. In her lab, she changed to her true form, Daneeva Dragmire, decendent of Ganondorf Dragmire. In a small bottle on her shelf was the real Talia, reduced to skin and bones and unable to speak because of extreme hunger and thirst. The pathetic fairy's tongue was so dry it stuck to the roof of her mouth.

Weakly, the fairy banged on the side of the bottle, and let out a faint whine. A tear rolled down her cheek. Desperately, she got down on her hands and knees and licked it up, only to find her tongue stuck to the bottom of the bottle.

Daneeva couldn't help herself. She laughed at the pitiful sight and then turned the bottle upside down, forcing the poor fairy to hold for dear life on the sides. Then the evil sorceress laughed some more. _Maybe I'll feed her just to keep her around longer,_ the woman thought_, she amuses me._ Then the fairy managed to free her tongue from the bottom? top? of the bottle. On second thoughts, maybe not, she decided, and set the bottle right-side-up again. The fairy, weakened by the ordeal, fell asleep.

She'll be dead in a few days, Daneeva thought, it's only a matter of time. She let out a maniacle laugh and shouted, "Moblins, destroy M'harra!"

A moblin appeared and Daneeva indicated a monitor on her wall, a monitor that was part technology and part magic and was far better than any crystal ball. The moblin said, "Yes, Lady Dragmire." Then he disappeared. She smiled to herself. The Counsel would be pleased.

Soon she would be queen and no longer need that bothersome disguise or the stupid moblins. She had plans. Plans to conceive a child the old way, but first she would have to revive a man. She had one such man in mind. Ganondorf Dragmire.

With his help, she would retreive the 24 pieces of the tri-force and rule the world with her Superior, Maaraza.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Outside the underground palace, Raya unrolled the map. In it was a key and locations of other keys and treasures. The lock to the tombs was deeper down, in the pits, where few people dared to go. She would probably need some help. Maybe Marin would like to come.

"No way," said Marin, "I may have rescued you from the heck up there, but I got my own life. I never been down there, and I ain't never going down there."

Raya walked out of Marin's house. Just as she was leaving, Marin said, "Good luck on your wild goose chase."

She turned around and Marin smiled at her.

"Don't get yourself killed," she said.

"I won't." Raya promised.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Marin shook her head. She had heard stories about elves going down there, but never coming back up. She went into the kitchen and lit up a cigarette. Cigarettes were illegal above ground, as were the other pleasures she indulged in. The domineering council didn't want anyone to die young from lung cancer, but anything would be better than living up there. She only went above ground to rescue others from that prison.

Her girlfriend walked in and joined her.

"You chickened, right?"

"What's it to you?" Marin gave her a dirty look.

Marin was not in a good mood, and Caitlaan was making it worse.

"I was just asking! Sheesh! You can get so grouchy when you're feeling guilty over something!"

Marin glared at her.

"Ok! Ok! I'll leave you alone!"

She left the room in a huff. Of course she was right. Marin did feel guilty, but what could she do? She didn't want to die with Raya... 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya headed to the ladder to the 'pits' as they were called. Just as she was going to begin the long climb down, she heard a familiar little voice.

"I'll come with you."

"Sprite!"

"And I won't take no for an answer!" the fairy said, "It's been a long time since I've seen Link, and I want to see you work your magic on him and Zelda."

"Well," Raya said, "I guess someone isn't afraid of breaking a nail."

Sprite sat on Raya's head.

"Be careful where you scratch," she said.

"I will."

They began the decent to the tombs of Raya's ancestors, Link and Zelda. They both knew that they might not come out alive.

To be continued...


	2. Betrayal

Dystopia

Dystopia

Part 2: Betrayal

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya, a descendant of Link, has found some of her mother's stories to be true. The ocarina, for instance, really is magic and may indeed have been used by Link. She used it to revive Sprite, the fairy princess who is now her travelling companion. Sprite claims to have known Link personally, but Raya doubts if she's telling the truth, or is incredibly senile. They are making their way into the pits, not knowing what is in store for them. Little do they know that someone is watching them and waiting to ambush.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They climbed for hours. It was getting so dark that Raya couldn't see the rungs of the ladder. She shuddered to think that her next step could be thin air. Sprite entertained her with stories and occasionally told fairy jokes or sang songs. Right now, she was sleeping. She didn't snore, but she talked constantly, annoying Raya.

Raya had heard that an animal called a 'bat' resided in caves and ate small insects. She also heard that bats drank the blood of elves. Either way, she did not want to come face-to-face with one of them.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of flapping wings and eerie squeeks. Something brushed against her. She screamed, waking Sprite.

"Wha!?! Wha!?! What's goin' on?"

"I don't know." said Raya, "Something brushed against me. I think it was a 'bat'."

"Bats? I never saw any of them around here."

She pulled at Raya's hair and scanned the place nervously.

"I don't like it here," she said, "I wanna go home."

"Go ahead. You go. I'll continue alone."

"Oh, no, you don't. If you really wanna go down there, I'm coming with you. I might have to heal you."

"But you said-"

"Fine! But if you get eaten by a gleeok or something, don't go crying to me!"

"Ok! Ok! Don't have kittens!"

Raya didn't know what a 'kitten' was, but she had heard her mother use that word before in the fashion she had just used it.

"But I can't have kittens. I'm a fairy!"

"Look, this is no time to be squabbling. We gotta find my ancestors."

"Ok. I'll protect you."

So they continued. Raya saw a bright light eminating from the bottom of the pit. When they reached the bottom, she found it was a torch. There were tunnels in the pit. Raya took the torch, looked at the map and went into the tunnel to the right of the ladder. She sensed that something was watching her.

Suddenly, a creature she thought only existed in the tales her mother told her jumped out in front of her and barked, "Die, M'haara!"

Sprite screamed.

"Moblin!!!!!"

Raya had no time to think. She drew her sword and slashed the moblin. It disappeared without a trace. Raya was shaken. She had never had to deal with such an aggressive opponent. No one did. She caught her breath while Sprite just hovered in the air with her legs crossed.

"I almost wet my pants," Sprite said, "I didn't know those things still existed."

"Neither did I." said Raya, "But something tells me we're being watched. That moblin knew my name. Someone wants us dead."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

"That fool! He ruined it! Just like a moblin!"

Daneeva shook her head and looked at Raya and Sprite through her moniter in disgust. Then she turned around and looked in deadly anger at the bottle holding Queen Talia. The perfect outlet for her anger. She took the bottle and dashed it to the floor, killing the fairy inside.

Daneeva looked at the limp, bleeding corpse with satisfaction. Anger vented, she walked out of her private lab, deliberately stepping on the body. Daneeva flicked the mess off her heel and then transformed into a copy of the dead fairy. She had duties to attend to. She had to keep up appearances-for awhile. She would also have to clean the blood and broken glass from the floor. Her plans would come to fruition in time...

_____________________________________________________________________________________

There were more moblins and some creatures called wizzrobes. That crash-course Raya's mother gave her sure came in handy. She found she liked fighting monsters. But something was amiss. The usually talkative Sprite had suddenly become agitated and withdrawn. When asked what was wrong, the ancient fairy would say that everything was fine, that she might just be getting the heebie-jeebies from the dark, unfamilliar area. Raya doubted that that was it. She was worried about Sprite.

"Sprite, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Did I say something was wrong?"

"You've been so quiet." Raya said, "It's not like you. Something is wrong."

Finally, the fairy said, "I don't know. I think I'm going crazy, but I feel that something terrible has happened in my kingdom. I just can't shake that feeling."

She obviously had no understanding of the fairies, Sprite thought. Back in the good old days, people knew to follow the fairy's every gut feeling. But the new initiates didn't know squat.

"There, there," Raya said, "It's probably nothing. Maybe you're just tired."

The fairy yawned.

"Maybe you're right." she said.

She curled up and fell asleep in Raya's hair.

Maybe we should both take a nap, thought Raya. After a couple hours, Raya woke up to find that her torch had burnt out. She just lay awake until the fairy woke up. Sprite wasn't too happy.

"Don't you know about the magic powder?" she said.

"What magic Powder?"

The fairy sighed.

"I'll show you."

_Typical elf_, Sprite thought.

Just as Raya was going to open her mouth to say that it was pitch black, the torch lit back up again.

"How'd you do that?"

"I used some magic powder." said Sprite.

The fairy produced a small pouch and sprinkled the powder on a nearby torch. The torch lit up, startling Raya.

"Cool trick. Do you know any more?"

"Uh-huh." she said, "Hold out your sword."

Raya set down the torch and held out her sword.

"Now concentrate. Focus all your mental energy on the wall."

She did. Suddenly, she could feel the sword pulsate. A bolt of energy shot out of the sword and hit the wall, opening it. In the room was a well between two statues.

"Sprinkle some powder into the well."

Raya did, and a bat came out, much to her chagrin. She backed up against the wall as the bat shot a bolt of energy at her. When the bat disappeared, she felt stronger, and able to continue.

"Well, well," said Sprite, "You just woke a mad batter."

"My mother told me about mad batters. Said they could make you stronger."

Raya and Sprite continued through the tunnels of the pits, watching their backs for more asassans.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, back at the Fairy kingdom, Daneeva, disguised as Queen Talia, sat on the throne, faking interest in the court jester. She found the fool to be rather boring, and couldn't wait for 'night' to come. The Mine-Shaft night was based on a chronometer, and was almost there for the Main Hyrule Region.

She watched the idiot, doing her best to supress a yawn. First thing she was going to do after taking over the mine shaft was to have the good-for-nothing clutz be-headed. Of course, she knew she should enjoy the idiot while she can, because there were mountains of paperwork with her(or Talia's) name on it. That would all end when she and her superior enslaved the world. She created so many assasins that the brat didn't stand a chance.

She laughed to herself, and the jester, satisfied that he finally got a laugh out of the unusually sullen queen, pirrouetted out of the throne room.

_Complacent little twit,_ she thought, _you don't know what you're in for._ She sighed and walked to her room to sign the tax papers. Then she could get out of the uncomfortable disguise for awhile. The disguise always made her a little stiff.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Raya and Sprite got closer to the tombs of Link and Zelda. They found many treasures along the way, and also many enemies. They all knew Raya's family name, and they all single-mindedly attacked her. _How could anyone know that she was there?_ To do that, one would have to have a sophisticated piece of surveilance equipement and more cameras than even the Counsel could afford.

She opened a door and walked into a room that was supposed to be filled with treasures. A powerful stench permeated the room and almost knocked Raya and Sprite over. In the room was a large three-headed monster. A gleeok from the legends!

Raya slashed at the gleeok with her sword and felt a stinging pain in her right leg. The monster had shot her with it's lasers. Panicing, Raya powered up her sword and shot at one of the heads, blinding it. The gleeok was furious. It let out a deafening roar and sank its teeth into her side. Raya felt her life-force draining from her, and with one last ounce of strength, she drove her sword into the gleeok.

The gleeok roared in pain and crumpled to the floor, moaning as it slowly dissolved into a puddle of slime.

Raya watched the monster through half-closed eyes. She could feel that she was bleeding from her side, but nothing below her waist. Her legs were numb and she couldn't get up. The world started spinning and her vision was fading. She coughed out something that tasted salty. She was dying.

"Sprite...Sprite..." she said in a weak voice, "Sprite! Mother! Save me..."

Then everything went black.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Daneeva looked at the monitor and laughed. Her plan had worked. The map she gave Raya never said anything about monsters. No one had known that they existed down there. She rounded them up and trained them-all behind the backs of the mine shaft officials. Now that Raya was dead, there was no stopping her.

She put her fairy-disguise on, hopefully for the last time. After she took over the kingdom she would no longer need it.

In the throne room, she said she had an announcement to make and that all of the fairy kingdom and the mine shaft were to be there. The whole mine shaft was stirring. Everyone wanted to know what the queen had to say.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Only Marin smelled something fishy, though she told no one, not even her lover. She called the local officials and said she wasn't feeling well and could not come. Then she huddled by her comm-unit, just knowing that something bad had happend and something worse was about to happen. Marin was ashamed that she didn't follow Raya down to the pits. She was afraid of the pits, because of those horror stories about the bloodthirsty creatures that lived there. She had to ovecome that fear.

When she was satisfied that the streets were empty, she cautiously walked out of her house and proceeded to the entrance to the pits. No one was watching. Marin climbed down. Just then, she heard a voice above her. It was one of the young fairies, a little boy named Dom.

"Marin! Marin! I had a dream last night that the queen was in trouble and someone was hurting her really bad! I told my mommy I had a tummy ache today when I was really feeling fine and she let me stay home."

Marin listened, because it was possible that the child was having the same nagging feeling as she was. Maybe that feeling was right, so she just silently nodded and listened intently as the boy continued.

"I even tookt some medicine from my mommy's medicine cabinet. Please don't tell her it was me or I will be in big trouble and my daddy will give me a spanking."

"Don't worry," Marin said, "Nobody's getting a spanking. You could be right. The queen could be in trouble."

She looked down into the blackness.

"One of my friends could be in trouble too. So I'm glad you brought some medicine," she said.

Dom sat on Marin's shoulder as she climbed down the ladder.

"I'm scared," said Dom, "I hear there are monsters down here."

"Don't worry," said Marin, "I won't let anything happen to you."

Suddenly, her fear went away. She knew what she had to do.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya woke up to a loud buzzing sound. It was Sprite, beating her wings in Raya's face. Raya tried to sit up, but she felt a sharp pain in her back and lay down again.

"Just relax while I heal those wounds, yadda, yadda, yadda..."said Sprite, "You took a lot of damage from the gleeok. Never seen one so hungry."

Raya felt dizzy and sick. She closed her eyes again. She could only guess the extent of her injuries. She was too tired to even talk.

Sprite took a vial of some kind of potion and gave it to Raya.

"Drink this." she said.

She tipped the vial to Raya's mouth, making sure not to give her too much at a time and make her choke. Whatever it was, it tasted good, like mint, one of the plants that was used to flavor food. Raya felt the potion work, revitalizing her body and closing the wounds in her stomach and right leg.

"What is this stuff?" she asked.

"It's healing potion. Supposed to cure what ales you, from bug bites to gleeok bites. You're lucky I'm around. Otherwise you'd be dead by now."

Then, Raya sensed something terribly wrong.

"I think we should go back and see what's going on up there."

"You mean, to the surface-" Raya asked, groggily.

"No, the fairy kingdom. Maybe your hunch was right."

They slowly made their way back, and on the way, they bumped into Marin and Dom.

"Oh, Raya! Thank God you're alive!" Marin cried.

"We thought you were in trouble." said Dom.

Raya told them what happened. Dom asked her if she needed some medicine. She said she was fine now. Marin told her that the queen had an announcement to make and that she and Dom smelled something fishy. Dom told them about his dream and even pantomimed the whole thing.

"I dreamed that some mean lady tookt the queen and locked her up in a bottle and then she got mad and killed her and squished her like a bug!"

"Yeah, and now the queen, or a very good facimile is making some strange announcement," said Marin, "This is totally unlike her. She hates public speaking!"

"Uh, huh," said Dom, "But she does like little boys and girls like me. And she gives us candy even when it isn't snack-time or dessert."

"Well, little buddy," said Raya, "How about you stay at Marin's house and be a good fairy while I go and rescue the queen?"

Dom thought about it.

"She'll give you some candy, and she'll read you stories."

"I'm not that good with kids-"

"Please! I really need to get to the bottom of this. And I think Dom likes you. Just keep him entertained."

Marin sighed and gave in.

They decided to head for the palace before it was too late. Marin insisted on climbing up first, just in case someone was waiting for them at the top. Raya looked up and averted her eyes. Marin was not wearing any underwear.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At the palace, everyone was wondering what the queen had to say. It was rather odd since she never cared for making speaches.

A hush fell on the crowd as the 'queen' flew into the banquet hall and sat down in the middle of the table.

"I have sad news," she said, "Your queen is dead."

The people looked at each other, bewildered. 'Talia' continued.

"So she has decided that Daneeva Dragmire will be your new queen."

The ersatz queen flew off the table and transformed into the witch Daneeva. A guard ran to stop her, but she began to dissolve even as she screamed, "Traitor!!!"

"Anyone else care to try that?"

No one answered. Daneeva waved her hands and an army of stalfos appeared.

"Take them to the dungens. Seperate the fairies, women, and children under twelve. If anyone tries anything funny, kill them!"

Then she sang 'The Frog's Song Of Soul' and 'The Ballad Of The Wind-Fish' in her low, tenor voice. She even bewitched some of the people because she was so beautiful.

"Arise, O Great Gannondorf, my first father and soon to be king and father of my child!" she cried out.

Life came to Gannon's bones, and he appeared in the room.

"Where am I?" he roared, "Who are you?"

"It is only your humble descendant, Daneeva. I have revived you so together we can anihilate Link's bloodline."

"Bloodline?"

"It's been twenty millenia and the Links you know are both dead. One of their descendants has tried and failed to revive Link and Zelda, but her sisters remain. We must kill them before they kill us.

Ganon looked at her

"Agreed." he said, "I will enjoy eating the little brats-"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Not if I can help it!"

Daneeva whirled around and turned white at what she saw. It was Raya. Alive!

"But-but how? You were dead!"

"Almost dead. Fortunately my fairy knew some magic and revived me."

Daneeva screamed with rage and shot a blast of energy at Raya, but she blocked it with her shield. It hit one of the stalfos and dissolved it. Raya held her shield in position and swung her sword at Daneeva, who vanished.

"Behind you!" one of the hostages yelled, only to be silenced by the stalfos.

Raya turned around and swung at Daneeva, managing to wound her before she disappeared. She was ticked.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back at Marin's house, Dom was getting in to everything.

"No! No! Don't touch! Naughty fairy!"

Then Dom began to cry.

"There, there, don't cry." said Marin, "Here, You can watch TV, or you can play on my computer."

"I can?"

"Sure."

Then she watched in horror as Dom single-handedly erased her files... at least she had back-ups... right?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Come out and fight with some honor!" Raya screamed, "Don't disappear like a coward!"

Then Raya vanashed, to reappear in Daneeva's secret room. Daneeva shot another bolt of energy at Raya, who deflected it with her shield again. The bolt hit Daneeva, injuring her slightly. Then Raya shot a bolt from her sword at the witch. Weakened, Daneeva begged for mercy, but Raya didn't buy it. She fired a final blast at the sorceress, killing her and leaving nothing but ashes.

Back in the banquet hall, the stalfos melted away and Ganon disappeared, leaving the people relieved but worried about Raya. Why didn't she come back? Did Ganon finish the job?

Satisfied that it was over, Raya turned to leave the room, but then she remembered Ganon. Sure enough, he materialized in back of her and attacked her with his pitch-fork. He wounded Raya, but she forgot the pain and just hacked away at the giant pig. Seeing that she was too strong for him, he disappeared.

"I'll get you yet," he said, "See that spot on the floor?"

Raya turned and saw the broken glass and crushed body and knew what had happened. Dom was right...

"You mean-?"

"Yes. It was my beautiful descendant, Daneeva. When I recover, You're next! Ha ha ha ha!!!!"

Alone in the room, Raya looked at the crushed fairy. Then she remembered how she revived Sprite. She took out her ocarina and played The Frog's Song of Soul. The bones of the fairy started to knit together and the wounds healed. The queen became whole again and woke up to see Raya staring at her.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Don't you know-" then she remembered. The Talia who gave her the map was really Daneeva.

"I'm Raya," she said, and she explained how Daneeva tricked her and almost had her killed. Then, she played Manbo's Mambo and reappeared in the banquet hall with the real queen.

"Don't worry," Raya said, "This one's the genuine article. Daneeva's gone forever. I'm not so sure about Ganon, though."

The people didn't care. They threw a big party in Raya's honor and gave her some new weapons that would aid her in her quest to defeat Ganon, revive her ancestors, and find the tri-force.

Talia told everyone about her ordeal in Daneeva's lab, how the witch kept her in the bottle with no food or water, and then killed her in a rage. The people were shocked. Never have they heard of such cruelty. At least now the queen was revived.

The grateful fairies healed Raya's wounds and gave her plenty of vials of mint-flavored healing potion.

After a few days, things went back to normal, but Raya knew that it wasn't over yet. She recognized Daneeva as Council member Janet Dragmar. 'Link' was right. The evil was the very thing that was keeping the peace in Hyrule, just like Aghanim twenty millenia ago. Daneeva was an infiltrator, and they evidently knew everything they needed to about the mine shaft. The council had to be disbanded or they would take over her new home.

And Raya would have to find the tri-force before Ganon did, otherwise it would be very difficult to get it back. From what her mother told her, it was hard enough for Link to recover the tri-force. Ganon almost killed him and Zelda. Where would she find silver arrows?

It was going to be a war to end all wars, she thought, as she practiced with her sword. She would need all the practice she could get and a full strike-force if she wanted to defeat Ganon.

To be continued...


	3. Ambush

Untitled Normal Page

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya saved the fairy kingdom and the mine shaft movement from Ganon and his descendant, Daneeva. Now, she finds that she has to put off reviving her ancestors and searching for the tri-force. The Ruling Council is preparing to take unorthodox measures to eliminate the mine shaft and annihillate the members. If they succeed, all will be lost, and Ganon will rule the world.

Worse, Raya's mother could be in danger. Raya will find out the true intentions of the council, and fight the leader. She must avert a disaster or everyone in Mine Shaft will suffer.

Meanwhile, two young fairies, guided by a mysterious voice, will sneak into enemy lines and may well determine the outcome of the war.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya was growing restless. She had heard news from one of the trolls that the Council was assembling an offensive and preparing to attack the Mine-shaft anytime. That worried her. She had just saved the people from the Dragmires, only to find that an even bigger threat loomed overhead.

They had sent a fairy scout a few days after Ganon was destroyed to see what kind of weapons were being manufactured, and the security of the factories and the Council chamber. What the scout came back with was disturbing. The Council chamber had been fitted with anti-aircraft weapons and every building of importance was filled to the top with assault droids. There were also enemy aircraft seen around Hyrule. Some of the passenger aircraft were even being used to hold weapons. The time of peace had come to an abrupt end.

Marin, as usual, was hanging around the district's cloning center, trolling for potential allies. Now that the councel was preparing to attack, she had to work overtime, and she had to recruit new trolls. This meant that the gardens and livestock would have to be attended by the fairies and children. Business would basically be slowed down to a crawl.

Raya slashed at a holographic droid. It sparked and exploded. Then she turned around to see a soldiar carrying a laser rifle. The soldiar fired a blast at her, which she deflected with her sword. A blast from her sword knocked it out of action. Another soldiar appeared, then more. Raya jumped up, causing two of them to fire at each other and vaporize themselves. Ha! She thought, that Roc's feather sure came in handy.

The Roc's feather was one of the gifts the fairies gave her. Not only did it make her jump and run fast, but it also gave her extra dextarity, so she was a pro with the sword.

She spun around, cutting the soldiars in half. Then came a walking tank, which hadn't been used since the wars of 12000. She slid under it with ease and sliced the underside, where the engine was. Then she got out of the way as the tank collapsed. Then it disappeared along with the droids and soldiars.

"Duty calls."

It was Marin. Raya had promised to take over the trolling detail while she took a break. Even when war was imminent, the trolls needed rest.

"Ok." Raya panted.

She put on the green dress-suit that the fairies made for her. It was a modified version of what Link wore, and a robe that could be worn while sparring.

She took her sword, pegasus boots, and a couple of bombs. She may need them. And she made sure that she had plenty of magic powder, just in case she encountered some droid commandos. They weren't used for centuries, but they could make a come back.

Dom, the fairy who received the telepathic message from the queen, wanted to come along, but his parents insisted that he stay. They didn't want him to put himself in a potentially dangerous situation.

"Good bye." he said, as Raya left the palace, which was fitted with holo-emitters for the combat simulations. Dom was made honorary prince for his role in saving the queen, but he still had to stay in mine shaft, go to school, and eat his vegetables. There were a few upsides, though. He could have all the junk food he wanted after dinner. And he could stay up late and watch the holovid. But he wanted to see what it looked like above-ground. He would just have to wait until he grew up.

Raya walked through the sewer, which she hadn't seen for almost a year. It stank, but she just closed her nose and breathed through her mouth. Her ears twitched nervously at the loud squeeks of the rats and bats that frequented the sewers. At least there weren't any alligators today.

She peered out of the grate. The sun was so bright, though the district was shielded from the ultraviolet rays. The place looked so sterile and colorless compared to the mine shaft. She broadcasted the signal on a radio band that was now virtually unknown, FM. The trolls from all over the world, mostly in Hyrule and Calatia, moved into position. Raya's station was the cloning center, where she was to hang around and try to recruit young adults. Other trolls hung around the arcade and rec-center, or at any public place where young adults would hang after school or work.

Raya walked down the street and tried to ignore the stares from the people. A little girl about Dom's age ran up to her and kicked her.

"You stupid trolls and the Mine Shafts are gonna die!" the girl snapped.

The girl's mother picked her up and carried her away from Raya, giving her a deadly stare. Trolling wasn't going to be easy, Raya thought. Tensions were building between the two factions, even though there was no official communication between them for millenia. The mine shaft and the trolls were viewed as a minor annoyance, but things had changed in those five months. There was tension in the atmosphere, and potential for deaths.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back at the house, Raya's mother felt uneasy. Something wasn't right. Nervously, she looked out the window.

"Oh, no..."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In the cloning center, no one would give Raya a seat, so she sat on the floor. Then someone said that that was her friend's spot, and not some troll's. Almost everyone claimed a spot on the floor, until Raya decided to stand.

One oriental girl spoke up: "You can sit here."

She got up from her seat and let Raya sit there, but the older woman next to her put her legs on the chair. Another girl with red hair and freckles volunteered her seat, but that too was promptly taken. This went on for hours, and Raya got no seats, but seventeen followers. Ray and her new followers then made a break for it and headed for the sewer.

Some of the girls balked, but then they just covered their noses and climbed down the hole. They all managed to avoid detection, but they didn't know how long they would be safe in the caves. They found the people there to be surprisingly kind. The children all asked them questions, but there was no time for questions. The new girls were taken to the palace, which was converted to a training center.

The simulators were very similar to the video games they played at the arcade. Violence was discouraged where they lived, but the Council allowed video games so the adolescents could vent the stress that had accumulated throughout the day.

Some of them went to the air-combat simulators. Others went to practice with Raya. They all had alot of fun, but this was serious business. They knew they could die.

Marin was surprised and pleased to see how many initiates the trolls got. The most her troops ever got in a day was one or two, and she didn't expect them to get much more than five or six initiates. The trolls had doubled their efforts and more than quadrupled the initiates.

They blamed the mounting tensions with the outsiders. Most of the trolls couldn't get a seat or play video games, and people in the streets constantly harassed them, causing some of the younger teens to sympathize with them. There were even some counsel members who joined, as well as some families. Strangely, Raya's family was nowhere in sight. Alarmed, Raya ran to her house, and found the interior trashed, with broken glass everywhere.

She searched the place, calling for her sisters and mother, but no one answered. She looked in her twelve-year-old sister, Danae's room and found it trashed as well, and Danae slumped against the wall, dead. The youngest, Leetha, who was only seven, was nowhere to be seen. She was obviously kidnapped and being reeducated by the counsel.

Raya looked in her mother's room and found no sign of her. Raya's blood froze. What if they found out about the secret room? She went into the room and found the place sacked, all the weapons and relics gone. Then she saw her mother huddled in a corner, bleeding and barely alive.

"Raya..." she said, "They took everything... except for this."

She pulled a sword out of her stomach, and a lot of blood spilled out with it.

"It was... the only way... I could hide... the... master sword."

"What???"

"Only the... blood... of a... M'harra... can conceil it..."

Raya started to take off her shirt to stop the bleeding, but her mother stopped her.

"Please, let me... die... Go... rescue Leetha... stop the counsel... find the... magic cape... The ocarina... keep it safe..."

"What?"

"I... never... told you... the ocarina... is... very important... It is... the ocarina... of time..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was... too... dangerous... too dangerous... Janet... Dragmar... would know... The necklace... "

"Yes, what is it?"

"A piece... of the... tri-force..."

The tri-force! So that was why her mother had her keep it a secret. But how did she hide the piece for so long?

"Please don't leave me!" Raya pleaded, "I'll use the ocarina, you'll be alright-"

"No... let me die..."

"But-"

"And don't revive Danae... I will... be lonely..."

"But I need you!!! I've lost enough as it is!"

"No... let me die... in peace... Raya... I... love you..."

Then Deela slumped down and died in Raya's arms. As she held the body that once was her mother, Raya felt anger burning inside her. Whoever killed her mother and sister would die a thousand deaths.

Raya carried the two bodies to the mine shaft. She didn't even care who was watching. The blood would wash out of her clothing, but nothing could wash away the anger and grief. No one could comfort her, not even the fairies. Raya knew what she had to do...

Two months later, she changed into her green sparing robe and conducted a meeting in the training center.

"Here's where we will attack." she said, and several buildings on the holo-map lit up.

"These are the factories where they may be manufacturing weapons, heavy artillery, and assault droids. Ground troops will enter from the back and trip the alarms, drawing out the security. While they're busy, the fairy commandos will fit the place with explosives, and we will fly over the area and attack any aircraft in the vicinity. When I give the signal, activate the detonators and run. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Raya!" the recruits cried in unison.

Then the holo-map zoomed in on the counsel building and showed its weak spots.

"Ground troops will enter here, here, and here," Raya said, pointing to three spots where the security was light.

"We will enter here and rescue Leetha," she said, pointing to the roof, where it was unprotected, "We will deal with the Council, and I will face the leader. It's become personal."

They nodded. They knew about her mother. The Council was going to pay.

"Jana, you lead the ground troops. Kaitlan, you're my bomber. Marin, you're my navigator."

The two women hi-fived each other.

"I want to come along too," said queen Talia.

"No, Sprite will come with me. You need to stay and take care of the children. If we don't make it, take them into the pits and hide them. Make sure they take plenty of food, water, medicine, and supplies. They might be down there for a long time."

"But-"

"I've seen how they look up to you. If we don't come back, don't cause any alarm. Just treat it like a game. Tell them to be brave."

"I will."

"Now let's kick some butt!" Raya yelled.

"Yeah!!!" screamed the crowd.

While they were getting ready for the ambush, Marin pulled Raya aside.

"They're just kids. They don't understand what it is to fight for freedom. They were playing games with their friends not too long ago!"

"I know," Raya said, "We will need a miracle. I've been praying to any deity that would listen. Maybe one of them will answer. My mother told me they work in mysterious ways."

"Yeah, but will they turn those green-ears into well-trained soldiars?"

"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see."

Marin shrugged.

"Ok." she shrugged, still doubtful that it would work.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She put on another coat of lipstick and touched-up her eyeshadow. If she was going to die, she may as well die looking good. She went home to touch-up her roots and put on her favorite knit low-cut dress.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That night, Dom, snuck out of his house and went to his friend, Karina's house. He found her getting up to go to the bathroom. He needed to go too, so after the both of them were through, he told her why he was there.

"We gotta do something to help Raya."

"We can," Karina said, "We can be good little fairies."

"No, no. Don't tell. I had a dream that a man that looked like Raya told me we need to help her or she will die. Then two funny diamond-things appeared and he told me I needed to steal them."

"But we shouldn't steal. It's wrong."

"I know, but the pretty diamond things belong to the Council. And they're the bad guys. And we gotta take some diamond things that look like the real diamond things so they won't know we stealed them."

"But we will get in big trouble. I don't want to be spanked and sit in the corner."

"I know. But we have to do this or everyone will go Kablooie!!!" Dom said, "I even got some medicine just in case one of us gets a boo-boo."

He showed Karina some potion he got from his parent's medicine cabinet. He was given some of that medicine when he fell down and scraped his knee. He liked the mint flavor and wanted more, but he knew that he had to save it for when he or Karina were really hurt.

They snuck out of Karina's house, and Dom sprinkled some powder on a stick. The stick burst into flame and Dom picked it up. His parents told him never to play with fire, but he wasn't playing with it; he was using it as a tool, not a toy. It was dark, and Karina was afraid of monsters. They also needed to see where they were going so they wouldn't bump into things.

While they were on their way to the door, a rooster crowed, startling them both. Dom said a naughty word and covered his mouth. He was so startled that he dropped the torch, putting out the fire. When the room wasn't so dark, he flew down and re-lit the stick and continued with Karina.

When they got to the door, Karina slipped under it first, and then Dom did, blowing out the stick first. When they were out, they covered their noses.

"Ewww," Karina gagged, "It smells like a rat went to the bathroom in here."

"Yuck. This place stinks. Let's get outaa here."

He re-lit the torch and they flew to the end of the tunnel. There was a hole at the top, but it was covered by something very heavy. Dom and Karina were too little to lift it. Then Karina had an idea.

"Why don't you sprinkle some powder on it?"

Dom shrugged.

"Why not? Let's try it."

He did, and the cover moved. They were actually out! The place looked weird and beautiful, but it was gray all over and only had a few trees to climb in and no chickens to play with. They flew away from the hole and they didn't look back. They thought their parents were looking for them and they would get into trouble for running away.

When they were far away from the hole, they took a rest. When Karina asked Dom where they were going, he said, "I don't know."

"Great!" said Karina, "Now I'm really in trouble! My mommy'll never let me play with you ever again!"

Just then, Dom heard a voice that sounded like the man in the dream.

**Go to the big, white building.**

"Which one?"

**That one with the flying monsters coming out of the top.**

"Oh, that one. Thanks."

"What are you talking about?" asked Karina.

"The man that looked like Raya just told me to go to that building where the flying monsters are coming out of."

He pointed to the big white building with the enemy aircraft coming out of it. They sure looked like monsters. They looked like they could eat a whole elf.

"They look scary." said Karina.

"They do look scary. But don't worry, I'll protect you. I'm a big boy."

Karina hugged him and stopped feeling so scared. Together, they flew to the white building and into one of the windows. Inside were droids with laser guns. There were also cameras everywhere, but they were built to see big things, not little fairies.

**In the far corner of the room they were in was a console. The voice said: Go over to that computer and push the yellow button.**

Dom flew over to the console and Karina followed him. He pushed the yellow button and the computer turned on.

**Now type these letters: O-V-E-R-R-I-D-E and then press the key that looks like a backwards L.**

He did.

"What are you spelling?" Karina asked, "And why isn't the funny man saying anything to me?"

**Maybe you weren't listening.**

Karina jumped.

"Was that the funny man?"

"Uh, huh." Dom said.

**Now type in these letters: A-L-L, and press the long rectangle-shaped key.**

They did.

**Now type these letters: U-N-I-T-S and press the L-shaped key.**

They did that, and a box with words in it appeared. They couldn't read, but they knew two of the words began with 'P'.

**Now type the letters G-A-N-O-N, and press the L-shaped key again.**

They did, and the cameras lights went off, as did the droids and the funny green lights that were in the doorway.

**Go to the room with the shiny white marble. It is to the right of the room with the green lights. Take only the two diamonds that are closest to a computer that has a marble next to it.**

They obeyed, and they came to a room with a pretty marble in it. There was also a part of the wall with some funny diamond things, just like the ones Dom dreamed about. He took the diamonds closet to the computer and then took some diamonds that looked like them out of his pocket. They belonged to him and were used to hold his homework. Dom put his diamonds where the council's diamonds were and put the diamonds from the wall in his pocket. Karina took the marble and hid it in her dress pocket.

**Now, go far away from the building. Go so far that you can't even see it. Then you'll be safe.**

The obeyed. They didn't look back. The fairies flew to a tree and fell asleep under some leaves.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The time is near." said the Council leader Maaraza Di'iaan, "The Mine Shaft is finished. The tri-force is ours."

The rest of the Council nodded in agreement. Then Maaraza noticed that one of the members was absent. Naja Zaydee. The one who was given custody of Leetha. Maaraza waited impatiently, and Naja ran in.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but Leetha wanted her mother. She won't accept that I'm her mother now."

Maaraza glared at her and said, "Then you must resort to more drastic measures. No food untill she accepts you!"

"But I can't do that. She'll die-"

"She will die if she doesn't stop that infernal howling!"

"Yes, wise leader."

"Now go back and beat some sense into the little brat!"

"Yes, wise leader."

She left in a hurry, as if Maaraza would do away with her if she didn't move now.

"There," said Maara, "Now we can get on with our meeting."

The rest of the Council repressed groans. All the meetings were boring. If they had known that being in the Council entailed this, none of them would have joined in the first place. Well, another day, another credit. They were anxious to get the meeting over with.

Some of them were apprehensive of the outcome of the attack. They sensed that the mine shaft movement had some weapons of their own, but they knew Maaraza wouldn't hear any of it. One member who was foolish enough to question Maaraza was elliminated by Janet Dragmar, Maaraza's pet. That incident put the rest of them in their place.

They felt sorry for Naja, but what could they do? Maaraza had magic powers too, and she was stronger. The Council gave a whole-new meaning to the word 'torture'.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ok, all set? Good. Let's lock and load!" said Raya.

She wasn't completely comfortable with the position thrust upon her, but they had a war to fight, and the people looked up to her. She would not let them down.

They got into their aircraft, which they made from plans stolen from the counsel. It didn't take long to assemble them, since the trolls on vacation would work on them with the able-bodied children. They didn't believe in child-labor, but these were desperate times.

The roof to the mine shaft opened and several people fell in. They were taken captive by some of the older trolls. They cleared the room and the ships powered up. One by one, they took off, knocking over some bystanders above ground.

The ground troops, supplied with laser rifles stolen from a nearby depot, had already made their way out of the caves through the secret tunnels and were taking their places around the factories and the main chamber.

Raya gave the command: "Formation Windfish Delta-5"

The ships went into position and they were all set. Some of the fairy commandos were worried because their children were missing, but Raya reassured them that they might just be playing hide-&-seek. Besides, they had bigger worries.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dom and Karina's parents, who were with ground troop Koholint Omega-9, began to quarrel among themselves.

"I'll bet it was Dom!" Karina's father said to his wife, "I warned you he was a trouble-maker, but no! You had to let our daughter associate with him."

"He is no trouble-maker!" said the mother.

"No he is not!" said Dom's mother, "He's a good boy. If anything, it was that Karina of yours-"

"Shut up!" one of the soldiars ordered, "Do you want to allert everybody of our presence?"

"No." they said.

"Then shut your traps or I'll have to seperate you!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Just then, Raya gave the signal. The troops broke into the buildings and started shooting like mad. The droids just stood there, like they were waiting to be shot. The troops stopped their shooting and robbed the droids that were still standing of all their weapons and pulled out their controller chips. Then they resumed their shooting.

Hearing the noise, the workers in the factory investigated the disturbance. They found a room full of teen-aged soldiars and fairies, both armed to the teeth, and no droids to protect them. They gave up and let the soldiars take them prisoner.

Raya's comm unit was buzzing! All the troops had exciting news: The droids in every factory were disabled and the people were sitting ducks. Raya didn't know about that; she smelled something rotton. It was way too easy. Now she was afraid to go into the counsel chamber. It could be a trap.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The council didn't know anything about the capture; the workers were taken by surprise and had no time to send a distress signal.

Maaraza rubbed her hands together in anticipation. Little did the mine shaft know that, Daneeva had a plan B, just in case she was killed by the brat Raya. She had the whole mine shaft lined with enough poisonous gas to kill a gleeok. The trigger program was hidden, along with the gold-shield files, in two information crystals. All she had to do was wait. Victory was so close she could taste it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Raya decided that she would take the chance. She had Marin take over the con and she entered the building througn the roof. There were droids everywhere, but they didn't attack her. She grabbed a rifle from a nearby droid and started shooting like mad, in case it was a trap. In no time at all, she had mowed down all the droids in the room.

A guard, hearing the commotion, walked in to see all the droids destroyed. She put her hands up and said, "I surrender! Don't shoot!"

Raya grabbed her and held the rifle to her.

"Who killed my mother and my sister? Where is Leetha? Where is the magic cape?"

The guard didn't know where the magic cape was, but she knew who killed half of Raya's family and kidnapped Leetha.

"It was a group of assault droids. She's in level four, section B. I swear-I had nothing to do with this! Please don't kill me!" she pleaded.

Raya thought for a minute then she let the guard go.

"Just don't try anything. Wait here and my bomber will get you. She won't hurt you if you cooperate

She radioed Kaitlan.

"I got a prisoner. Hold her in the aircraft. I don't want to shed too much blood."

The guard froze. Raya shot her a warning glance.

"I just want to know what you're doing."

"It's for me to know and you to find out." she said.

Maaraza heard a scuffle up stairs. Something wasn't right. She felt a wave of sick horor. No! It couldn't be, she thought. Then suddenly, the door to her chamber was blasted open. Maaraza turned white.

"H-how did you-"

"I don't know," Raya said, "But unless you wanna die, you'd better come with me!"

Maaraza smiled.

"It won't be that easy."

She pressed some buttons on her console and a voice on the PA system said: "Auto-destruct sequence has been activated. You have ten minutes to exit the building."

Raya aimed her rifle at Maaraza.

"You pig!" she screamed, "You killed my mother!"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play innocent with me, Maaraza. You had the assault droids murder them. All I want to know is, why?"

"I can't very well find the tri-force without anihilating Link's bloodline, now can I? You see, as soon as I get the tri-force, I will restore men to this world, as well as revive my advisor, Daneeva."

"Not while I'm alive," promised Raya.

"That can easily be taken care of."

Maaraza pointed her finger at Raya and shot out a bolt of energy, like Daneeva did. Raya, having left her shield in the aircraft, ducked out of the way. The bolt hit a guard who was walking by. With a shriek, she dissolved, and another guard slipped in what was left. The guard looked at the puddle, then at Raya and Maaraza. She used an old lineage curse and ran away.

Raya fired her stolen rifle at Maaraza, who got out of the way. She fired at Raya and missed, hitting the rifle and frying it.

"Ya know, you should get your eyes checked." Raya taunted.

She was answered by another bolt from Maaraza. She dodged it and charged at Maaraza, breaking some bones in the aged council member's body. The counsil member managed to get up and, with great difficulty, fired a final blast at the console.

"Now... you'll never... escape..." she said, as she slumped down by the sparking console.

Raya nervously scanned the room. A cape was draped over one of the couches. She took the cape and put it on, and suddenly felt more powerful. As she was running down to level four, section B, she noticed that none of the guards were shooting at her.

When she came to Leetha's room, the girl didn't notice her. She was howling as one of the Council members, Naja Zaydee, was trying to get her out of the room. The girl wouldn't budge. Neither of them acted like they even saw Raya. Then she knew why.

She took the cape off and Leetha screamed, "Raya!!!"

Raya picked the girl up and Naja followed them, all the way to the top floor where Marin and Sprite were waiting. The three climbed into the aircraft and flew away from the building, just as it exploded.

The ship took heavy damage and went spinning out of control. Navigation was offline, and manual controls were jammed. Raya was knocked unconscous.

When the ship stopped spinning and the systems went back online, they found they were in the middle of the ocean, and near an odd island that had a mountain with an egg on the top.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Strange," said Marin, "I never seen this island on the map. I'd better radio my trolls to see what they know about this island."

She tried, but all she got was static. They were stranded with no food or drinkable water, and no hope of rescue. The potions that they brought with them could be taken in lieu of food and water, and they could also be used as fuel, but even they were in short supply.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, Raya was half awake, and could feel the sun beating down on her. She barely had enough strength to move. She felt sand in her hair, and various flora and fauna. There were no large buildings, only coconut trees and a mountain with an egg on the top. Strange, she thought. Then she blacked out.

She woke up to the sound of footsteps and saw the sillouette of a woman about her age standing over her.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" the woman asked in a concerned voice.

Raya tried to answer but was too weak to do much more than groan. Her mouth was dry. She felt like she hadn't had a drink in days. She didn't even know how long she was out.

The mysterious woman sat her up and gave her a drink of water from her thermos. It tasted good, and Raya suddenly felt better. Then she blacked out again.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The mysterious woman carried Raya home. It had been a while since Koholint had a visitor. She hoped this one would make it too. This visitor looked alot like the last one. She wondered if the two were related. Now that was a thought. She would not only have a totally cute husband; She would also have a sister-in-law that looked just like him.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To be continued...


End file.
